By Joginder Tuteja
Three women-centric releases arrived on different OTT channels this week - Hiccups And Hookups, Chhorii and Illegal 2. Each one of these has an altogether different flavour and caters to different segment of audiences. Considering the fact that this was anyways a heavy week at the theatrical box office as well with Satyameva Jayate 2 and Antim - The Final Truth releasing, there was a lot of variety in store for the audiences.
Let’s talk about Hiccups And Hookups first. The web series marks the arrival of Lionsgate Play in the Indian OTT arena and turns out to be a saucy and naughty adult outing that is set to get the eyes rolling. With Lara Dutta taking centerstage and doing well all over again, this one is for the mature audience in the urban Indian set up and takes a holds-no-bar route when it comes to exploring matters related to hook ups and of course sex.
As for Nushrat Bharucha, she has shed her naughty image from the likes of Pyaar Ka Punchnama series and Sonu KinTutubKi Sweety and moved into a different zone with Chhorii which is playing at Amazon Prime. As a pregnant woman who gets into a haunted house where people and situations around her okay with her mind, she gives a good account of herself in this slow moving horror drama that engages you well as long as you are patient enough to sit through for over two hours.
Meanwhile, there is some filmy drama at play in Voot Select’s Illegal 2 which is one of the rare web series on the platform to move into the second season. When the first season backed by Vikram Bhatt came with Neha Sharma and Piyush Mishra arrived last year, it made a good impression. Now the second season has Tanuj Virwani step into the narrative as well and director Ashwini Chaudhary has done well enough to ensure that the momentum continues in this legal drama. The stage has been set well now for the third season to kickstart soon.
Coming soon
Taking about Tanuj Virwani, he is definitely enjoying to the fullest in 2021, what with Illegal 2 followed by Inside Edge 3 in back to back weeks. He has already released four web series already in 2021 - The Tattoo Diaries, Murder Meri Jaan, Cartel and Tandoor. Now he has Inside Edge 3 coming up which is a biggie by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani for Amazon Prime. Yet again, Vivek Oberoi and Richa Chadha get into a battle royale with each other and the backdrop of India Pakistan test match series only makes it further special.
While this sports drama is set to entice audience all over again in the coming weekend, Abhishek Bachchan would be seen in the title role of Sujoy Ghosh’s Bob Biswas. The film is a spin off of the contract killer from Kahaani and though it was supposed to have a theatrical release, it is now arriving on the OTT. A dark comedy in the offering, this one is directed by Sujoy’s daughter Diya Ghosh and would be lapped up the lovers of mystery and thrills genre.
Release dates
Bob Biswas - 3rd December - ZEE5
Inside Edge 3 - 3rd December - Amazon Prime